Interstellar Voyager

Interstellar Voyager

Finally Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space. I waited a little just to be sure, but it’s true: Humankind has presence beyond the solar system. WOW!

As time goes on Voyager will study the material and winds from stars that exploded 5 or 10 million years ago, at least while Voyager lasts. How much longer will we be able to hear Voyager 1? It is expected the nuclear power supply will last until 2025 when the last of the science instruments will have to be shut down.

I personally am amazed we can still hear it even now. The power output of the transmitter is about 23 watts and it’s over 18,777,909,877 km (11,668,052,248 miles), that radio is exceedingly weak. When they say “radio dot” they are not kidding!